Aeternis-WHA
08-11-2009, 04:20 AM
As I sat near the campfire somewhere in Caledor the other night, waiting impatiently for my soup, the zealot hunched over the pot cocked an eye at me to distract from whatever horrible thing she had just dropped into the bubbling stew.
Then she spoke. The tale she told me was of Feculesh the Defiler, the Great Unclean One of Nurgle. She described him as a towering, giant mass of putrid, rotting, diseased flesh, covered in boils and infected sores and bloated with pus, blood and other fluids.
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammeronline/images/thumb/9/9a/Great_Unclean_One_ss.jpg/240px-Great_Unclean_One_ss.jpg
"His gut is a great torn maw where intestines and other innards hang loose and broken bones seep bone marrow into the rest of his body and onto the ground, Nurglings cavort in this orifice and make their homes in the Great Unclean One's stinking flesh, along with other creatures such as worms and maggots."
I thanked her, obviously, for making me that much hungrier.
My hunger, however, was for putting this abomination out of its blasphemous existence.
"Go to Ostland" she said. "Visit my father."
Knowing her father was dead, that could only mean one thing. A crypt.
As I arrived, it conveniently began to rain and thunder with ominous insistence. I crept into the overgrown yard, expecting a bony hand to grab my foot at any second. There was no perceptable entrance, and the rain was soaking my cloak.
Then I heard the voice, dry as rustling leaves, blowing around the inside of my mind.
"Seven Lords with seven sons,
Faith corrupted, life undone,
For young pilgrims, four to come."
I returned to my quarters in Fell Landing with a heavy brow. The riddle was not all that difficult to understand, but I did not know where to start. The zealot ran a fingernail through her raven's stoic feathers and gazed at me.
"Fourteen gravestones scattered throughout the world, from Kadrin Valley to the Sewers of Altdorf, seven of which honor a father and seven of which honor a son.Yes, that's all you need to know..."
I knew of one grave immediately, that of Galdurel Hawkwood in Dragonwake. I flipped through my Tome looking for the notes scribbled there:
The only child of Archmage Morothel Hawkwood, Galdulrel followed in the footsteps of his sire like a dutiful son. The power of the Winds was weak within him, and he took poorly to his father's criticism. He sought succor in the Lore of Chaos, seeking to buy power from Daemons. His father, upon learning of Galdulrel's deeds, confronted the younger Hawkwood, but was killed by a summoned Daemon that had broken free of the tenuous bonds that had held it immobile. Maddened by his father's death, Galdulrel vanished into obscurity.
Idiot, I thought. If the riddle serves me, his father is dead. The most logical place must be the Blighted Isle. Where else would an archmage seek solace?Before going there, however, I remembered what the zealot had said. Kadrin Valley to Altdorf...there is a method to this madness!
My notes from the journey went something like this:
Kadrin Valley:
Kazagund found death in a Daemon's maw.
All that remains of him is here laid to rest.
He drinks now with Grimnir the Fearless.
Skordin Kazagundson has gone to the Badlands
to settle the grudge with his father's killer.
Badlands:
Following the death of Kazagund, Skordin took the Slayer Oath and sought out the Daemon that had taken his father's life. Whether he found the beast or not remains a mystery, for he was never seen again.
Leading me nowhere, I continued on to the Blighted Isle.
Lost to misfortune most foul,
Morothel Hawkwood has gone to Isha's bosom.
Elseltar, his fair lady, mourns his loss;
Galdulrel, his son, has fled to Dragonwake.
Knowing that already, I began to see a pattern. If I can find the lords, their sons follow.
I decided the logical route would take me through each region. I travelled next to Reikland, where I knew another graveyard to be. Inspecting the stones pointed me to Talabecland:
Two stones were found here:
Nicodemus Nuhr, who killed his knightly father for a beastly woman's love. Following his father's death, the object of his passion vanished, leaving Nicodemus hunted and alone. He fled justice, never resting, ever haunted by the shade of his father and the leering eyes of the lady who spurned him. To the last, he claimed that she was a Daemon, a temptress, but none believed him. He was last seen in Reikland, but none can say if proper justice was ever served.
Bomit Bumbleshoot is interred below.
He choked to death upon a stolen bone.
Willed the leftovers to Bilton in Talabecland.
In Talebecland, two small sites gave up the father and son:
Sir Xavier Nuhr, of the Reiksgard Knights.
His sword was broken beneath him as he fell.
Dead by his son's hand; betrayal most foul.
Nicodemus has fled to Reikland, it is said.
Bilton Bumbleshoot, a petty thief like his father, was no better, nor worse, than any other Halfling. Bilton spoke of voices in his head, and he talked to himself incessantly. Being as he was a Halfling, no one thought his behavior was odd. He was eventually lynched by a mob for a crime he did not commit, but his body was never located. Ranald weeps for Bilton, while Rhya surely weeps for the chickens.
Chickens, I mused. They have a lot of those in Ostland.
Here rests Ronal Grumman.
Loving husband to Elle.
Father of Hanse, lost to the wastes.
Hanse Grumman, son of Ronal Grumman, was a mercenary captain of no repute who was driven mad by the wailings of a Chaos Daemon during the siege of Erengrad in 2302. He thereafter traveled to the Chaos Wastes and was never heard from again.
I was close, and knew of two last sites intimately. One being in Praag, the other where the Raven Host basecamp was nestled in Nordland.
Russenscheller Graveyard
Barnabas Hirtzel, lost at sea eight years.
Merchant of exotic animals and foodstuffs.
Survived by Konrad, sewerjack of Altdorf.
Beekerhoven Crypt:
All his life, Faustus Kummel served Sigmar.
His son, Fabian, searches for revenge.
He looks for the city that cannot be found.
I knew already of Fabian's grave in the Inevitable City, hidden as it was in the twisted dead-end passages of the western quarter. Konrad's, on the other hand, was going to be a challenge. I had snuck into Aldorf before, but typically brought friends. I realized now this Daemon of Nurgle would be inspiring a war, but not one that either side would complain about.
"You'll need 3 others with the curse to get to the Unclean One, by the way." The zealot cackled, and plopped what looked like a tentacle into the pot.
Then she spoke. The tale she told me was of Feculesh the Defiler, the Great Unclean One of Nurgle. She described him as a towering, giant mass of putrid, rotting, diseased flesh, covered in boils and infected sores and bloated with pus, blood and other fluids.
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammeronline/images/thumb/9/9a/Great_Unclean_One_ss.jpg/240px-Great_Unclean_One_ss.jpg
"His gut is a great torn maw where intestines and other innards hang loose and broken bones seep bone marrow into the rest of his body and onto the ground, Nurglings cavort in this orifice and make their homes in the Great Unclean One's stinking flesh, along with other creatures such as worms and maggots."
I thanked her, obviously, for making me that much hungrier.
My hunger, however, was for putting this abomination out of its blasphemous existence.
"Go to Ostland" she said. "Visit my father."
Knowing her father was dead, that could only mean one thing. A crypt.
As I arrived, it conveniently began to rain and thunder with ominous insistence. I crept into the overgrown yard, expecting a bony hand to grab my foot at any second. There was no perceptable entrance, and the rain was soaking my cloak.
Then I heard the voice, dry as rustling leaves, blowing around the inside of my mind.
"Seven Lords with seven sons,
Faith corrupted, life undone,
For young pilgrims, four to come."
I returned to my quarters in Fell Landing with a heavy brow. The riddle was not all that difficult to understand, but I did not know where to start. The zealot ran a fingernail through her raven's stoic feathers and gazed at me.
"Fourteen gravestones scattered throughout the world, from Kadrin Valley to the Sewers of Altdorf, seven of which honor a father and seven of which honor a son.Yes, that's all you need to know..."
I knew of one grave immediately, that of Galdurel Hawkwood in Dragonwake. I flipped through my Tome looking for the notes scribbled there:
The only child of Archmage Morothel Hawkwood, Galdulrel followed in the footsteps of his sire like a dutiful son. The power of the Winds was weak within him, and he took poorly to his father's criticism. He sought succor in the Lore of Chaos, seeking to buy power from Daemons. His father, upon learning of Galdulrel's deeds, confronted the younger Hawkwood, but was killed by a summoned Daemon that had broken free of the tenuous bonds that had held it immobile. Maddened by his father's death, Galdulrel vanished into obscurity.
Idiot, I thought. If the riddle serves me, his father is dead. The most logical place must be the Blighted Isle. Where else would an archmage seek solace?Before going there, however, I remembered what the zealot had said. Kadrin Valley to Altdorf...there is a method to this madness!
My notes from the journey went something like this:
Kadrin Valley:
Kazagund found death in a Daemon's maw.
All that remains of him is here laid to rest.
He drinks now with Grimnir the Fearless.
Skordin Kazagundson has gone to the Badlands
to settle the grudge with his father's killer.
Badlands:
Following the death of Kazagund, Skordin took the Slayer Oath and sought out the Daemon that had taken his father's life. Whether he found the beast or not remains a mystery, for he was never seen again.
Leading me nowhere, I continued on to the Blighted Isle.
Lost to misfortune most foul,
Morothel Hawkwood has gone to Isha's bosom.
Elseltar, his fair lady, mourns his loss;
Galdulrel, his son, has fled to Dragonwake.
Knowing that already, I began to see a pattern. If I can find the lords, their sons follow.
I decided the logical route would take me through each region. I travelled next to Reikland, where I knew another graveyard to be. Inspecting the stones pointed me to Talabecland:
Two stones were found here:
Nicodemus Nuhr, who killed his knightly father for a beastly woman's love. Following his father's death, the object of his passion vanished, leaving Nicodemus hunted and alone. He fled justice, never resting, ever haunted by the shade of his father and the leering eyes of the lady who spurned him. To the last, he claimed that she was a Daemon, a temptress, but none believed him. He was last seen in Reikland, but none can say if proper justice was ever served.
Bomit Bumbleshoot is interred below.
He choked to death upon a stolen bone.
Willed the leftovers to Bilton in Talabecland.
In Talebecland, two small sites gave up the father and son:
Sir Xavier Nuhr, of the Reiksgard Knights.
His sword was broken beneath him as he fell.
Dead by his son's hand; betrayal most foul.
Nicodemus has fled to Reikland, it is said.
Bilton Bumbleshoot, a petty thief like his father, was no better, nor worse, than any other Halfling. Bilton spoke of voices in his head, and he talked to himself incessantly. Being as he was a Halfling, no one thought his behavior was odd. He was eventually lynched by a mob for a crime he did not commit, but his body was never located. Ranald weeps for Bilton, while Rhya surely weeps for the chickens.
Chickens, I mused. They have a lot of those in Ostland.
Here rests Ronal Grumman.
Loving husband to Elle.
Father of Hanse, lost to the wastes.
Hanse Grumman, son of Ronal Grumman, was a mercenary captain of no repute who was driven mad by the wailings of a Chaos Daemon during the siege of Erengrad in 2302. He thereafter traveled to the Chaos Wastes and was never heard from again.
I was close, and knew of two last sites intimately. One being in Praag, the other where the Raven Host basecamp was nestled in Nordland.
Russenscheller Graveyard
Barnabas Hirtzel, lost at sea eight years.
Merchant of exotic animals and foodstuffs.
Survived by Konrad, sewerjack of Altdorf.
Beekerhoven Crypt:
All his life, Faustus Kummel served Sigmar.
His son, Fabian, searches for revenge.
He looks for the city that cannot be found.
I knew already of Fabian's grave in the Inevitable City, hidden as it was in the twisted dead-end passages of the western quarter. Konrad's, on the other hand, was going to be a challenge. I had snuck into Aldorf before, but typically brought friends. I realized now this Daemon of Nurgle would be inspiring a war, but not one that either side would complain about.
"You'll need 3 others with the curse to get to the Unclean One, by the way." The zealot cackled, and plopped what looked like a tentacle into the pot.